"I bid thee welcome to this court." The deep voice boomed. "Nigel Fenring, Kona Godi and Shinya Akame. You are in the presence of his highness, Emperor Kor the Third."
The voice that addressed us was a man standing next to the throne. He was older, taller and quite rotund in his figure. He leaned one hand against the side of the throne that the child emperor sat upon. The other figures standing above us were sparse and spread out; it was clear that the man addressing us held immense power, more so than the rest.
The child waved his hand to the larger man next to him, who leaned down as whispers were exchanged. As I glanced around the room, I noticed Konas expression was one of shock.
"It seems the Emperor is disappointed in you, Shinya Akame. You were told to be a demon, but you are clearly a man. Emperor Kor holds no interest in speaking with you." As he spoke, the child pushed himself off the chair he was too small for and walked away, disappearing out of sight as he moved further back into the chamber. "I, however, do want to speak with you further."
As the others left the room, the one man who remained stood beside the throne, looking back as the others left. After a moment, a door in the distance creaked closed, and with the distant thud, with that, the man turned to face us once more.
"My name is Xudo Quadrata. I am the advisor to the Emperor and his teacher."
"My lord Quadrata." Kona blurted out as she dropped to one knee. "I apologise, but I must ask, what has become of Empress Fi?"
A silence fell upon the room as Xudo started to slowly descend the stairs to our level. Each heavy footstep echoed throughout the room, ending with one loud stomp as he descended the final step. "Empress Fi sadly passed away some two years past now, her only son, Emperor Kor, took the throne since then."
Kona hunched forward as her hand landed on the cold marble floor, glancing over to her, I noticed tears falling onto the floor. Xudo walked closer, standing in front of us as he looked at me.
"Now you, marked child. You are the one I am most interested in. I have heard a lot about you and your… unique abilities."
"With all due respect, my lord, how?" Nigel stepped forward assertively.
"I am Lord Xudo Quatrata, the all-knowing. My spies are everywhere; they see everything. Fear not, it is under my discretion that your bounty was never distributed in the empire; I am not your enemy."
"Then what are you?" I finally decided to speak up. I stepped forward and walked in front of Nigel. I didn't need him to protect me; I was able to protect myself. "I assume that it was you who issued the summons and not the emperor himself. So, what is it you want, truly?"
"I want to see what you are… what you're capable of doing."
I thought about it for a moment, whether it was wise to reveal myself, but if what he said was true, surely he would already know. "What do you want to see?" If he answered honestly, then I would know what he said is true. I don't want to reveal anything that he doesn't already know, simply due to the fact that I didn't know what this man was capable of or what he wanted.
"You have strength that I know, I've heard tell of healing abilities and whispers of something more. Your body can change, no?"
It seems that he knew everything; there wasn't much point to hiding anything from him at this rate. I closed my eyes and tensed my right arm as I moved it forward, focusing on the muscles that tightened, my nails dug into the palm of my skin, and I felt them grow. I opened my eyes and looked down as the skin of my arm blackened into the colour of a void. My hand transformed into a clawed shape as Xudo looked down at it with a faint grin.
"Marvellous. You truly have control… may I?" He reached his hand out towards mine.
I nod slightly and hold my hand still.
Xudo reaches out and grabs my wrist as his other hand swiftly reaches into his coat and pulls from it an ornate and well-decorated knife. As he held it aloft, I heard the unmistakable sound of boots squeaking against the floor as Nigel and Kona were ready to rush to me. With a loud snap, the knife came soaring down and snapped in half as it made contact with the claws that protruded where my fingers once were.
I returned my arm to normal and looked down at my fingers; there was no damage to them at all. Xudo, meanwhile, examined the broken knife curiously. "Marvellous, it seems you will be of use to me after all."
"Use to you? What right do you have to order us around?" Nigel interjected once more, his tone demanding and confrontational.
"Well, considering you just destroyed the emperor's ceremonial dagger, I would say that you have two choices: death or… enter my service."
"You son of a-" Kona moved forward, ready to throttle Xudo, who simply held his hand aloft to stop her in her tracks. I turned to her and saw a knife at her throat. Standing behind her was a pure white mask with two small eyeholes, with the left side one having dark intricate patterns around it, with a singular long streak running down the mask.
"Stand down, L." The masked man put the knife away with a flourish as he walked toward Xudo, standing by his side. "This is L. You are to treat him as your commander; you all have military experience, so this shouldn't be too far removed from what you are used to. Welcome to the royal army." With little more than a faint nod, Xudo walked up the stairs and disappeared out of sight like the others had. Leaving the three of us with this masked man standing before us, who only went by a single letter for his name. L.
Nigel stepped forward and grabbed my shoulder, pulling me back as he leaned into my ear.
"Looks like you don't really have much choice in the matter… but I'm with you. Especially if it's paid."
"I'm with you no matter what." Kona said as she stepped forward, placing a hand on my shoulder. We turned to face the masked man again, who was standing motionless. His blue eyes were barely visible, watching us through the holes in the mask.
"So the three of you? Very well, my name is L. I will never divulge my true name nor my true face. As far as you're concerned, this is my face. I work as the court's assassin; you three are to work under me. You are now in service to the emperor, rejoice." He held his arms out wide to a silent reception. "Very well, follow me to the guest quarters."
He turned and began the walk like a well-trained soldier; each step he took was deliberate and calculated. It was clear he was in control and aware of every aspect of his own body at all times. The three of us reluctantly followed through a door to the side, through snaking halls and eventually into a small, bland room with three beds that resembled the inside of a fort barracks than a palace. "Feel free to converse. I will order a royal guard to be your personal liaison. Ask him when you get hungry."
The three of us entered the room, feeling more like we were being marched into prison. We entered the room, sat atop the beds, and once the footsteps of the masked man finally faded in the distance, we spoke.
"I told you to be cautious; now we've been blackmailed."
"Well, I have. It sounded like you two were free to go."
"You know I'm not leaving your side." Kona stood and moved to my side, sitting next to me as she clasped my hand.
Nigel let out a sigh as he leaned back and lay on the bed. "Well, think of it this way. We've got a job now. And it seems it might not be too different from what we normally do. We have beds, a room, food and who knows what other perks. All in all, this could be worse."
I wanted to respond to him, I wanted to say that I didn't like the idea of having my freedom taken away from me. But in truth, did I even really have it? Ever since I descended down that cave, have I ever been free? Or rather, subjected to the will of someone or something else, be that the government, the fear of being hunted and captured, and now this. I suppose this is all I've known. So it is, as Nigel said, all in all, it wasn't that bad; this was just more of the same.
Shortly after, a guard came and stood in front of the door to the room. A few hours later, we told him that we were hungry, and he returned with food. It really was like a prison.
It was a restless sleep we all got that night, only to be woken in the early morning by a loud knocking on the door once again. It was L, the masked man. He led us to the main throne room, where three royal guards stood, each holding out one of the black and gold coats they wore in their arms, presenting them to each of us. L walked up to the guards who were as statues. "As members representing the crown, you must look the part."
Of course, L was wearing the same attire. We each approached and took one of the coats, adorning ourselves in them. I put mine on over the armour, as did Nigel. Kona, on the other hand, stood there, looking down at the coat. She turned to L.
"Can I refuse?"
"You can do as you please."
Kona reached out and returned the coat to the guard. As I finished putting it on, I looked down at the clothes, adjusting the lapel. Even considering what wearing these clothes meant, I enjoyed them. The quality of the fabric was far better than anything I had ever felt before, even over my armour, and it was comfortable.
"Good, now let us be off I will give the mission briefing while we travel." L began to walk towards the grand doors to the room, stopping just before them and turning back to us. "I should also warn you, if you try to look at my face, I will kill you." He turned and pulled the grand door open just enough to vanish into the light of the outside world.
We followed suit, wondering what might be to come.